This site was developed as part of an investigation into
the dynamics of Azeri names and naming from the days when Azerbaijan was under
the rule of the Czar until it reached independence in 1991. For the research,
one hundred families were visited and asked to describe the given names of
family members over three generations. This part of the research describes the
over 400 male and female given names that were reported by the respondents.

Dr. Alakbarli provided the field collection of the data, the
voice rendition, and collaborated on the content of the names analysis;
Professor Sheil was the phonetics expert. He translated auditory tape into the
BBC-NYTimes Easy Pronunciation as well as the International Phonetic Alphabet
(IPA). Aytan Aliyeva also helped with the voice rendition. Professor Sheil
and Christopher
C. Taverna (Academic Information Technology, SUNY Fredonia) prepared
the entries for the website. We would also like to thank Betty Blair, Editor of
Azerbaijan International, for her encouragement throughout this
project. We are also grateful to Professor Darryl A. Spencer of Johnson & Wales University – Charlotte (North Carolina) for helpful explanations on etymology.

Language(s) of origin, if not Azeri, meaning, historical note, if any.

Total frequency of the name, frequency by period.

Modified BBC Spelling

Further modified to accommodate this project

&nbsp

Symbol used

Example

VOWELS

ă

as in the word hat, camp

ah

as in the words father, botch

aw

as in the words call, bought, soft

ay

as in the words caper, rain

eh

as in the words get, ready, Oedipus

ee

as in the words beet, receive, feat

o

as in the words go, beau, though

ŭ

as in the words put, book

oo

as in the words moon, couth, juice

uh

as in the words above, dumb

ü

no equivalent in American English -
akin to the open ü in German, as in the word Hütte -
a degree of lip rounding and tongue arching as if to say the vowel i, as
in hit

ö

no equivalent in American English -
akin to the open ö in German, as in the word Götter -
a degree of lip rounding and tongue arching as if to say eh, as in get

CONSONANTS

b

as in the words bat, blubber

ch

as in the words church, catch

x

no equivalent in American English -
akin to the ch in Hebrew, as in baruch, or in the Scottish word loch

d

as in the words dad, dodder

f

as in the words fife, phone

g

as in the words go, giggle

h

as in the words hip, who

j

as in the words joke, gym, adjust

k

as in the words kite, cup, luck

l

as in the words love, fill

m

as in the words men, dumb

n

as in the words name, ninny

p

as in the words pit, pepper

s

as in the words sin, cion, scissor

sh

as in the words shoe, schilling

t

as in the words tip, fight

v

as in the words very, savvy

w

as in the words win, awake

y

as in the words yet, bayonet

z

as in the words size, visible

zh

as in the words azure, vision

Example:

Thus, in the example the first line shows the spelling of the name in
English.
The second line shows the spelling in Azeri (in this name the letters in
Azeri are the same as those in English). It is a feminine name (f).
The third line shows the pronunciation in BBC style. The stressed syllable
is in caps.
The fourth line shows in brackets the pronunciation in IPA style.
Below these the language of origin (Azeri from Turkic) is shown and the
meaning “unfading.”
Finally, the frequency. There were 8 women who bore the name, 1 from
Political Time Period 1 (1917 and before), 1 from the second period
(1918-1919), 4 from the 3rd period (1920-1940), 1 from the fifth period, and
1 from the sixth.

Political Time Periods referred to are:

-1917&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp Czarist
Azerbaijan was part of Imperial Russia

Note that the names are presented in seven sections. Begin by
clicking on one of the sections. It will take a short time for the section to
load. Then it will begin. To stop, click on the two vertical lines above START.
To begin again, click on those lines again. It is also possible to move around
in the section by clicking on the white part of the moving green line just
above two parallel lines at the left (this turns into a right arrow during the
PLAY phase).